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Chinese With No Detours

TIM SING in Farmingville may be the Chinese restaurant many Long Islanders are looking for. It is a 21st-century rarity: a Chinese restaurant owned by Chinese who are cooking the food they know best, with no detours to other Asian cuisines. There is no sushi bar peeking from a corner nor Thai beef with basil elbowing aside the egg foo young.

Yeung Ming Lo is the chef and owner; his wife, Yuk, runs the dining room; and their son, Sammy, waits on tables and smoothes any language difficulties.

The large free-standing building, outlined in blue neon, was formerly the Blue Spruce Inn. The bright, airy dining room is dominated by an aquarium inhabited by yellow parrotfish. The walls are sunny yellow, but the rest of the décor is in the Chinese mold: statues of Confucius, a small shrine, golden dragons, an ornate folding screen and red tassel decorations.

The food is as traditional as the décor. It may be retro, but most of it is very good, especially the main courses. Appetizers were mixed, and desserts nearly absent, save for ice cream. One night, our waiter delivered our check and fortune cookies without asking if we wanted anything else. We didn't.

Aside from that minor slip, the service was very good. A second pot of hot tea was brought when ours grew tepid. On both visits we were asked if we wanted more crispy noodles when the basket was low. A waiter's tray was set up next to our table for overflow dishes, so we wouldn't be crowded. Water glasses were topped off throughout the meal.

Every entree we tried was right on the mark. We ordered a variety of dishes ranging from standbys like beef with broccoli and moo shu pork to Tim Sing spicy chicken, which the restaurant labeled its own creation. Tender nuggets of moist chicken in a spicy Sichuan sauce were encircled with broccoli florets. A carved vegetable flower decorated the plate.

The beef with broccoli satisfied, and the moo shu pork was an especially flavorful version of the classic, with the pancakes spread with hoisin sauce and filled at tableside.

Hot garlic sauce is a preparation our family favors, so we tried a number of dishes featuring it. The stir-fried spicy eggplant was lush and melt-in-the-mouth delicious. Shredded pork passed muster, as did the large shrimp bathed in garlic sauce with onions, water chestnuts and squares of pepper.

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Lobster is billed as a weekend special. One Saturday we ordered a whole lobster, and at first we were told the restaurant didn't have any lobster that night. But that was quickly remedied when someone was sent across the street to a fish store to get one. It was served cut into chunks (in the shell) and crowned with shredded scallions and ginger.

We gave high marks to the roast pork lo mein, which was full of flavor, with tender meat and vegetables, and to the especially moist and appealing Singapore mei fun, angel hair in a light curry sauce dotted with baby shrimp, bits of scrambled egg and shredded vegetables.

The soups -- won-ton, tangy hot and sour and the house special -- were all good. The last was a gussied-up won-ton with the addition of shrimp, chicken, broccoli and baby corn. The egg-drop soup, though, was strangely sweet, and results were mixed with the fish ball soup. We loved its broth, but the fish balls were rubbery.

The best appetizer was the boneless spare ribs, a plate of tender strips of barbecued pork. The on-the-bone ribs were also crowd-pleasers. Earning high marks, too, were the crunchy shrimp toast and the very light, vegetable-laden spring rolls. But both the fried and steamed dumplings were thick and heavy, and the fried shrimp were bready.

Eating at Tim Sing was a nostalgic trip to the past with Chinese favorites working their magic once again.